Today at the Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) in Brunssum the Armed Forces General Salvatore Farina presided over a conference to discuss the main experiences completed in the annual activities of the NRF, the Rapid Reaction Force of the Alliance, as well as establishing and strengthening the relations and mutual understanding between current and future NATO commanders Response Force, in view of the transfer of responsibility expected by the JFC of Brunssum to that of Naples at the end of the year.
The Conference was an opportunity to tackle the persistent challenges facing the Alliance: Allied initiatives in the field of deterrence and collective defense and their relationship with the NRF, with particular attention to the "Enhanced Forward Presence" and the "Tailored" Forward Presence ", concerning the security respectively of the north-east and south-east faces of the allied territory.
In his speech, General Farina wanted to emphasize how the forces of the NRF are to be used at 360 degrees for missions of "Article 5" (collective defense) and "CRO" (crisis management) adding that "this last type of task it is of great interest especially for the southern front of NATO, where the alliance is about to constitute a "Hub for the South" centered on the Naples NATO Command.
At the meeting were also representatives of the NATO Command structure, with the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces in Europe (SHAPE) - summit of theAllied Command Operations (ACO) - and of the relative subordinate specialized commands: airplane (AIRCOM), maritime (MARCOM) and terrestrial (LANDCOM). Also present were representatives of the Multinational Corps Northeast based in Szczecin (Poland).
The results of the Brunssum conference will be an integral part of the final report on the period of responsibility of the NRF (lasting for 1 year) that the Brunssum JFC commander will send 2016 to the supreme commander of the Allied Forces in Europe (SACEUR), General Scaparrotti , for its evaluations.
From January, for the whole of 2017, the responsibility for assuming command of the NRF, in case of activation, will pass to the JFC of Naples. The command and control of the "Resolute Support" mission in Afghanistan will continue to depend on Brunssum for the implementation of Assurance and Deterrence measures (security and deterrence) and in this context the Brunssum Joint Force Command will be engaged with the deployment of the four multinational battlegroups in the north-east of the Alliance, as part of the “Enhanced Forward Presence”.
